Undetermined Path
by Ryoumafan
Summary: Seven Death Generals, canon divergence AU. Prequel to my Hunters AU. For the Tale in Fragments and what if challenges. Having gotten their souls back and done in DarkKnightmon, the Death Generals join Xros Heart as they do battle against DarknessBagramon. Called back to the Digital World, who can say where they'll be after that?
1. Struggle

**A/N**: Hi everyone. Upon Aiko advising me the Tale in Fragments challenge was better suited for this fic than a drabble collection, I went with it. I chose easy list 1, 30 prompts. The first prompt I used was number 7, 'attempt'.

What ifs used for this fic:

1. What if the resurrected Death Generals remembered the lessons Taiki taught them and turned on DarkKnightmon?

2. What if Yuu had dragged Tagiru (or one of the future Hunters) into the whole D-5 mess somehow?

3. What if Ryouma and Kiriha were related?

4. What if Ryouma's hair was purple?

5. What if Ryouma could hear DigiMelodies?

…

**Undetermined Path**

1. Struggle

"No one has ever returned from Prison Land before." DarkKnightmon claimed this to Taiki, after the brunette decided to head there to reclaim the souls of Shoutmon, Dorulumon and Ballistamon that DarkKnightmon had captured with the Dark Stone. Following his refusal to choose again, DarkKnightmon stole away Taiki's soul. Taiki collapsed to the ground and the real battle began.

"Shoutmon! Dorulumon! Ballistamon! DigiXros!" Taiki commanded, not backing down even against the souls of the Seven Death Generals. The three Digimon of Xros Heart responded with roars of confirmation, the echoes of their loyalty to the reckless human sending chills down each of the Death Generals' spines. The vibrations of the shouts seemed to say: _We'll kick their arses again and again until they realize_.

"Shoutmon X3!" The helmeted, armoured warrior declared, standing before and continuing to oppose the Death Generals.

Whispered chuckled lowly and murmured: "What can a puny Digimon like X3 do?" Taiki stared determinedly at him, almost as if he was willing Whispered to understand what his plan was.

Dorbickmon initiated the assault and barked out: "Take this! Dragon Breathonic Fire!" From the two plates on his chest, he unleashed pillars of flames that headed straight for Shoutmon X3. However, X3 countered with Three Victorize, a red 'v' of energy that came from the V plate on his chest. This struck Dorbickmon's technique, but he was overwhelmed when the Fire Fury poured more power into his move, causing the attack to explode in X3's face.

Splashmon carelessly commented that he was a fool, but NeoVamdemon sensed something was amiss. "No, wait."

The smoke cleared and the Death Generals blinked in surprise. X3 was standing. "Not bad for X3," Zamialemon's praise didn't come as a shock to Taiki.

Having somewhat expected Zamialemon's appraisal, Taiki replied with great enthusiasm. "Dorbickmon, NeoVamdemon, Zamialemon, Splashmon, Olegmon, Gravimon, Apollomon Whispered," he began. Taiki glanced at each Death General as he spoke their name with such fierce passion that his words alone unnerved them into taking steps backwards. "Is this how you really want to be treated, like toys to be tossed aside? You're better than DarkKnightmon believes! Don't you have stronger hearts than this...?" Taiki's goal was to make the Death Generals' hearts waver, so they would doubt their alliance with DarkKnightmon. They were sharing glances with each other and murmuring uneasily.

"_Are you really okay with fighting under someone who doesn't care about his friends?!_"

"_The only reason DarkKnightmon revived your bodies and not your consciousness is because he doesn't trust you!_"

Apollomon rematerialized as Whispered's heart continued to falter and Apollomon and Olegmon walked over to stand beside Taiki. The brunette's face expressed his delight upon seeing two of the more just Generals ally themselves with Xros Heart. But Taiki knew it would be tougher to convince the remaining Death Generals. However, he hoped, one way or another, they would see sense soon. Shoutmon X3's power was infinite, since they were currently in the world of souls. As long as the members of Xros Heart had each other, the power that fed their souls would keep flowing out.

"Three Victorize!"

"Dual Tomohawk Boomerang!"

Both attacks hit home on Whispered, causing him to stumble back. Despite this, he recovered quickly and snapped that feeble attacks like that wouldn't keep him down. Before he could finish his sentence, though, X3 lunged at him, punching him square in the jaw. Ah yes, the power of friends could do great things.

Whispered was starting to realize that, groaning softly as he got to his feet. He deliberated, ignoring the goading comments from Splashmon, Gravimon and Zamialemon. Whispered didn't like being used by the "prick" DarkKnightmon and mulled over the fact that perhaps joining the humans wasn't such a bad idea. He let out a tch of finality, his mind made up, and began walking over to Taiki.

Needless to say, Splashmon, Gravimon, NeoVamdemon and Zamialemon were caught off guard. They hadn't been expecting Whispered's desertion at all, as they had wanted Whispered to finish off the insolent boy. Faced with the very real possibility of losing their lives, they muttered under their breath some more, before Splashmon made the choice for them. The Water Tiger went over and stood beside the others. Gravimon, NeoVamdemon and Zamialemon hastily followed suit, not wanting to lose any more of their pride.


	2. Fatal

**A/N**: The prompt used for this chapter was number 12, 'decisive'.

…

2. Fatal

"Across the stars, may we move through dimensions!" Apollomon slammed his clawed hands together, before bursts of flame shot out of the spikes on the back of his hands. Flanked by the pieces of armour on his back, the tiny sun above Apollomon's head absorbed the flames and increased in size. It was enough to hold Shoutmon X3 and Olegmon, but not even Apollomon was expecting what happened next.

"Soul Blaster!" The technique went awry, exploding before it reached the barrier, causing everyone to be thrown out of Prison Land. Apollomon immediately suspected that there was still remnant data from Whispered in his system. He knew this had to have been the only reason for Soul Blaster to have become unstable. Putting the thought aside for the moment, Apollomon realized all of their souls were back in their respective bodies as Taiki had gotten to his feet and declared to DarkKnightmon that he won the bet.

...

Hidden by the shadows, a tall figure watched the incident unfold, bitter disappointment in his red eyes. He was not at all impressed with his younger brother.

...

The Death Generals wasted no time in attacking DarkKnightmon, determined to end him once and for all. Apollomon and Whispered launched their attacks first, Apollomon's reddish-orange fire seconds behind Whispered's blue arrow.

Next was Splashmon. "Hydro Pressure!" Streams of highly pressurized water shot from Splashmon's fingertips.

Each attack so far had struck DarkKnightmon, who hadn't moved for some reason, and that greatly bothered Dorbickmon. The Fire Fury glanced back at Taiki, realizing the boy could give them more power if they DigiXrossed with X3. Dorbickmon hailed Apollomon, Whispered, Splashmon and Gravimon – who had attacked DarkKnightmon without mercy – and informed them and the remaining Death Generals of his idea.

They were cautious, but agreed with the idea. Whispered walked over to Taiki and let him know what they had in mind. Taiki's eyes widened in surprise and decided to go with their plan. "Shoutmon X3! Death Generals! DigiXros!"

Shoutmon X3 gave a yell of approval, while the Death Generals roared with ease. With this added power, they knew they would be able to take down DarkKnightmon. "Shoutmon X3 Death General Mode!"

Only a few hints of X3 remained, as Dorbickmon's tail replaced Dorulumon's. His shoulders now had Gravimon's cables and the drills on his legs and his lower abdomen were Zamialemon's arrows. His arms belonged to both Whispered and Apollomon and his hands were that of NeoVamdemon, with his face Splashmon's.

"Bloody Stream Grade!" NeoVamdemon's hand burst forth from Apollomon's right arm, the clawed demonic-looking limb racing straight at DarkKnightmon. Shoutmon Death General Mode followed it up with Arrow of Whispered from Whispered's left arm. Pressing the advantage, he then used The World Shot, firing the gigantic arrow from his lower abdomen.

He continuously cycled through each special attack, seemingly not getting anywhere in the beginning, but knowing he had made a great deal of progress when data started floating away from DarkKnightmon's body. As more data particles came off of DarkKnightmon's body, the grinding of earth against bone was suddenly heard. The sound of foot falls... someone was approaching them.

Shoutmon Death General Mode devolved back into Shoutmon, Ballistamon, Dorulumon and the Death Generals. Kiriha and Taiki tightened their grip on their XrosLoaders and glanced at each other, eyes narrowed with the fire of determination burning within them. They then returned their focus to in front of them as the Digimon responsible for the slow footsteps had finally appeared.

"Little brother, I am not impressed," the Digimon faced DarkKnightmon, taking the Dark Stone from the evil knight's fading hand. His skeletal hand held it up in front of his chest and it was absorbed into it. "You could not even get rid of these pests." He frowned, before driving his bony arm through DarkKnightmon's head, while the kneeling knight was struggling to stand.

"Bagramon..." That was DarkKnightmon's final word before his brother absorbed his data.

As Bagramon's body underwent a transformation, he introduced himself to Xros Heart. "I am the ruler of the Bagra Empire, DarknessBagramon." A purple glow surrounded him as he raised his skeletal arm to the sky. It pierced through the dark purple clouds and ripples began forming from that spot. He broke through the barrier separating the real world from the Digital World, gloating: "I can grab the human world!" His hand passed over forests, turning them to stone.

D5 had begun.


	3. Safe

**A/N**: The beginning of this chapter may seem confusing, but it should be easy to understand by the end. Also a note on everyone's ages, since I'm not sure if Seven Death Generals was clear on that issue. Taiki, Kiriha and Nene are thirteen, Akari, Zenjirou, Ryouma and Ren are twelve and Yuu is eleven.

The prompt used for this chapter was number 4, 'waves'.

…

3. Safe

Taiki raised his Xros Loader to the sky. "Shoutmon!" He requested. "Evolve!"

The small dragon's answering roar sent chills through the concealed boys' hearts. It was a wordless wild shout, seeming to say: _I'll kick his arse, Taiki_. The purple-haired boy, with a bang hanging in his eyes, believed it.

"OmegaShoutmon!" Beside Ryouma, his first cousin with blue locks crouched with him and they both witnessed a golden armoured dragon land on the road. Around his metallic body was an aura of power and his blue eyes glared at the much larger samurai warrior. The ronin stared in disbelief, his eyes wide with fear.

"The hell's this?" Ryouma chuckled quietly under his breath, despite the terrifying circumstances the duo were in. He had to admit he loved Ren's indifferent arrogance. Sometimes he did, anyway, because he could be as prickly as an enraged bear. Ryouma held a finger up to his lips and shushed him, nodding in the direction of the two former hostages as they went past their hiding place.

Too late, though. One of them had heard Ren's soft outburst and turned in their direction, as Ryouma subconsciously stepped back. Darn, trust Ren to react in a louder than normal whisper... The red-haired girl's eyes met his green ones, his afraid and hers peaceful yet startled.

"A-Are you okay?" He whispered. Anxiety started bubbling up. She was a girl, but it wasn't because of that. His communication skills with other people in general was just _not good_. "A-Are y-you okay?" Feeling self-conscious, Ryouma tore his eyes away from her gaze, as he fought to control his body's nervous trembling. "... I... just..." Apprehensive, his mouth closed itself.

"Ryouma, what the hell are you doing?" Ren's biting tone came from behind the wall of rubble. When no answer came that he could distinguish, Ren grumbled and faced where his cousin was, freezing in place when he saw the girl who had been a hostage. "..."

The redhead studied Ryouma tardily and smiled, as if working out the reason behind his fright. "Yes," she informed him with pride. "I'm fine. You're going to be too. Please join us when this is finished, okay?" She hurried off towards the goggled boy and the golden beast, before he could give a reply. Ryouma and Ren watched alongside the other two as OmegaShoutmon and that samurai clashed.

"BEAT SLASH!" Now, the cousins covered their eyes, the golden shine of a large diamond of light meeting a violet sword of darkness. Ryouma snuck a peek through his fingers, seeing a large hole in the ronin's chest. It was dying, falling from its position and soon, had completely disappeared. The storm began to fade and the samurai roared, an echoing fury. The sky was a bright blue once again, making the world believe as if nothing had happened.

Of course, Ryouma and Ren knew that a great victory had just been won here. "A-Amazing..." the purple-banged boy murmured at length. The golden dragon then became smaller and fell into the water, creating a splash. For the time being, it was over and things were alright. Ryouma slumped against the wall they had hidden behind, shaking with obvious relief, feeling tears trickle down his face. They weren't dead, everything was alright.

That was for about five minutes and then the sky turned a pitch black. A hand reached down from the clouds, pressing skeletal fingers around the bridge, connecting them to another dimension. A violet energy wave pulsed from the hand and spread. Wherever that wave touched, even the water, everything turned to stone. Ryouma and Ren took off, desperately fleeing. Fear pushed his legs forward, his survival instinct blurring his vision. _I... don't want to die... not now..._

"_Please join us when this is finished, okay?"_

… _I want to do that..._ He didn't know about Ren, but he wanted to be part of their group of friends. To become stronger was something he wanted, to be wanted and cared for. The two from before suddenly skidded in front of them, causing Ren to snap out: "Watch where you're going!" But they paid him no mind and all of them then heard a voice call to them.

-Can you hear me?-

Zenjirou and Akari slowed, looking around in confusion. "What was that?" Akari asked.

"I heard a voice in my head!" Zenjirou exclaimed. "W-Who are you?!" The group took off running again. More and more places became petrified.

-Hurry and follow my voice!-

The foursome stopped running and turned to look behind them. Four lights were shining brightly, seemingly in mid air. They grabbed them and the group was immediately enveloped in a protective bubble.


	4. Lost

**A/N**: The prompt used for this chapter was number 6, 'helpless'.

…

4. Lost

"OmegaShoutmon..."

"ZekeGreymon!"

"Ballistamon! Dorulumon! Starmon!"

"Sparrowmon!"

"Great Xros!"

"Shoutmon X7!" The new warrior shouted.

"God of Death Snatcher!" DarknessBagramon declared, raising his skeletal arm as a violet aura surrounded it. He wanted to finish off these pests, something that DarkKnightmon had failed to do, and continue in his plan with D5. He swept his arm towards the group and Kiriha called out a warning to Taiki, which caused the gogglehead to sweat with panic.

"Shoutmon X7!" Taiki was concerned for the Digimon's wellbeing. The Death Generals watched the incident unfold from further back, feeling slowly gained newfound respect for Taiki.

X7 had it under control, however. "Xros Burning Rocker!" he yelled with determination as he parried DarknessBagramon's data-erasing technique. The lengthy mic that was ablaze with fire held off the move. The Dark Stone made itself visible in DarknessBagramon's chest and pulsed, resulting in the evil Digimon widening his eyes in surprise. "Now Starmons!" X7 called to the smaller Digimon group and they sent a shuriken-like weapon at DarknessBagramon's shoulder. Caught off guard, he stumbled back. "Seven Victorize!" X7 countered with a more powerful version of Three Victorize, Seven Victorize of which engulfed a larger radius.

DarknessBagramon stepped back again, the explosion shrouding him in smoke. When the smoke cleared, he walked forward a second time. He explained that DarkKnightmon was absorbed because he did not have the idealism and conviction of a true king. Shoutmon X7 told him he could cut the crap, asking if he did. DarknessBagramon replied that he, of course, did. He had both idealism and conviction: the ideal dream of unifying both the human world and Digital World and the strong conviction of executing such a dream.

X7 shouted: "I won't let that happen!" He leaped at DarknessBagramon, who merely held up his arm, stopping the attack. A violet energy bubble leeched away X7's power, forcing them backwards from the draining move's strength, devolving them back into Shoutmon, Greymon, MailBirdramon, Ballistamon, Dorulumon, Starmon and Sparrowmon. The Digimon were so weakened by the technique they all returned to their respective human's Xros Loader. Except for Shoutmon, that is.

Shoutmon was determined to cease DarknessBagramon's corrupted vision for the Digital World, so he stood up once more, mic ready in hand. "You are an eyesore. Disappear from my sight," the evil Digimon rumbled at the smaller dragon.

"Just try and erase me if you can!" Shoutmon continued to defy DarknessBagramon. He refused to go down without giving this fight all he had. "I won't back down!" And he wouldn't, not when so many Digimon had placed their faith in him.

"Hmm?" DarknessBagramon stared down at him questioningly. He wondered what it was about this dragon that irritated him.

"The humans..." Shoutmon continued, as if DarknessBagramon hadn't interrupted him. "Taiki and the others have given us amazing power. Why do they have to be annihilated?!" Shoutmon didn't understand DarknessBagramon's plan, but was sure to become angry when the evil Digimon revealed it.

DarknessBagramon answered that humans were an imperfect species and it was necessary to change their composition with his powers. At the same time, he planned to make the Digital World a greater place.

Nene gasped out: "No way..."

Shoutmon simply scoffed and taunted DarknessBagramon, saying he knew he wasn't a king. "What?" DarknessBagramon growled, fast growing tired of Shoutmon's backchat.

Pressing on, Shoutmon stated that he learned something during all of his fights on his journey. That a real king was someone who believed in everyone. Someone who believed that even if they were not good enough now, they would definitely be stronger one day. That was who everyone was waiting for. DarknessBagramon didn't believe in his friends' potential from the very beginning, so he failed as a king. "But don't worry," Shoutmon insisted. "The one who will be Digimon King is me!"

Reaching forward with his skeletal hand, DarknessBagramon replied: "Try and stop me then."

Shoutmon drew back his mic as a psuedo sword and swiftly lunged at DarknessBagramon. DarknessBagramon glanced down at the humans and gave a twisted smirk as his fingers rapidly closed around Shoutmon's body and mic, crushing him to deletion. Taiki collapsed to his knees there and then, crying out Shoutmon's name as the red dragon's data floated away from the scene.

"It is time to descend on the human world." DarknessBagramon gave one strong push of his wings and ascended into the air. "You will all disappear. Wander within the threshold of an eternal dimension that is neither the Digital World or the human world. You will not get to see the new world that I create! Eternal Darkmare!" He flapped all four wings and a cloud of dark energy burst forth, stealing Xros Heart from sight.


	5. Strive

**A/N**: The prompt used for this chapter was number 1, 'push'.

…

5. Strive

In the other dimension, Taiki was floating upside down and moping. _Shoutmon! Guys!_ He paused briefly. _It's no use... I can't hear the others' voices... I couldn't do anything... Anything..._ Taiki managed to right himself, before continuing. _Even though Shoutmon believed in me and used the last of his strength..._ The dimension somehow flipped him upside down again. _He was the first Digimon I ever met... He was my best friend... But this is it..._

_Don't cry, Taiki..._ Those had been Shoutmon's words to him in the heat of battle against Dorbickmon. _We're still in the middle of a battle_.

_That's right!_ Taiki suddenly realized. _I'm not done yet! I can't be done yet!_ He began to struggle in an attempt to reach the top of the dimension, but kept falling for some reason.

Without warning, two hands grabbed either of his wrists, trying to pull him out of the darkness. It was Akari and Zenjirou, but they couldn't fully pull him up. Seeming to realize they were having difficulties, two other hands helped out and together the foursome succeeded.

As Taiki opened his eyes, he registered four people. Two he recognized, Akari and Zenjirou. But he wasn't familiar with the other two. "That's rare, to see you crying your eyes out," Akari admitted quietly. "But you can't give up yet, Taiki."

"Your most reliable friends in the world are back to help out, after all!" Zenjirou chose that moment to pipe in cheerily, sounding like a drill sergeant as usual.

Taiki sat up and looked across to the other two children. "H-Hi," the purple-haired boy stammered slightly. "Mogami Ryouma," he introduced himself, bowing before straightening up. "Akari-san told us a lot about you."

"Tobari Ren," the other boy bit out his name reluctantly as Taiki looked over at him.

…

_Mogami... Ryouma..._ Kiriha perked up at the boy's name. As much as he had hated how strict his father had been, Kiriha had grown to realize his father actually _did_ care about him, but that wasn't what was perplexing him now. The blonde Aonuma vaguely remembered his father mentioning his second cousin's name months before the accident that killed both of his parents, the Mogami family.

Kiriha hadn't realized it then, but it took him by surprise at the present moment. He was related to this silver-haired kid and he hadn't seen him until now? Kiriha walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey," he uttered softly, by way of greeting.

…

"Thank you," Taiki conveyed to Ryouma and Ren for helping Akari and Zenjirou. He then shot to his feet and hugged his closest friends. "Zenjirou! Akari! How?!"

Kiriha scoffed from his position at Ryouma's side, amused at Taiki's happiness. "Looks like a miracle happened."

Taiki's eyes danced around wildly, seeing everyone he thought he had lost. "Guys...!"

The Death Generals watched on in silence, though it was easy to tell their emotions if one really looked. They were just as pleased as Taiki to have been saved.

"Akari and the others saved us," Nene added lightly. "We heard their voices in the darkness."

Cutemon jumped into Akari's arms, crying happily: "I'm so glad to see you again, kyu!" Akari merely laughed and hugged Cutemon back.

Taiki thanked Akari, Zenjirou, Ryouma and Ren once more. But, deep down, he was still depressed about Shoutmon. The others could tell.

"Taiki-san..." Yuu breathed.

His eyes wide with sympathy, Zenjirou contributed as well. "We heard the situation from Nene-san." His expression then changed to one of determination. "But there's still hope! We can still rescue Shoutmon and save the human world!"

Taiki's orbs widened in hope. "H-How?"

-We shall explain.- One of the voices that Akari, Zenjirou, Ryouma and Ren heard before spoke up.

Four lights, one from each of the four's pockets, shot up and formed DigiMemories. The DigiMemories of WarGreymon, Examon, Holydramon and Dukemon, to be exact.

"DigiMemeories... Why do you four have those?" Taiki asked, curious.

With a smile on her face, Akari answered. "We were able to come here through the power of those DigiMemories."

Each DigiMemory shot out another light and the Digimon of the past appeared before the members of Xros Heart and Ryouma and Ren. The red dragon, Examon, introduced himself. "My name is Examon."

"My name is WarGreymon," the yellowish Dragon Man gave his name.

"Holydramon."

"Dukemon."

"Now, humans who call upon miracles..." The four Digimon spoke in unison, as they shone brightly. "We shall bestow upon you our last hope."


	6. Reveal

**A/N**: The prompt I used for this chapter is 3, 'show'.

**Alforce Zero**: Thank you so much! You have no idea how much your review meant to me. I love "Legend of the Digi-Destined", btw. You've done well with that story.

…

6. Reveal

A tear opened in the sky, allowing the protective bubble to pass from the Digital World to Earth's atmosphere. "This is Bagramon's D5..." Taiki murmured, shocked by what had happened to his world.

Examon's DigiMemory spun continuously to the right of Zenjirou. -Long ago, when Bagramon was scheming to control the Digital World, he learned of the human world's existence and changed his plans into something bigger. That new plan entailed absorbing both the Digital World and human world, creating a new world under his rule. That is D5. We, the Order of the Knights, fought continuously to stop him. However...- Examon paused, letting WarGreymon continue the flashback.

-Unexpectedly, due to the growth of the humans' digital technology, the distance between both worlds kept shortening. That energy created distortions in our core, resulting in the splitting and collapsing of the Digital World. The impact caused everyone in the Knights' Order to turn into DigiMemories and Examon, Dukemon, Holydramon and I fell into the threshold of dimensions.- WarGreymon concluded, as he spun above Akari's head.

"But thanks to that, they were able to save us," Zenjirou piped up again, causing Kiriha to glance at him. "Also, I guess you can say Tactimon helped."

"Tactimon?" Taiki questioned, genuinely looking surprised.

-We floated in that threshold for a very, very long time.- Examon started explaining. -There...-

"That time when Tactimon was blown here from the Digital World, he passed through that threshold of dimensions. They caught onto him and came here," Zenjirou clarified.

-We were stuck in the opening and could do nothing except look on while you and Tactimon fought.- Holydramon spoke for the first time in a melodious tone.

-And... _Can you hear me? Pull us out! Hurry!_ If Akari, Zenjirou, Ryouma and Ren hadn't heard our voices, we would all have turned to stone.- Dukemon finished up their explanation.

"Honestly," Kiriha began, his hands on his hips as he turned towards Akari and Zenjirou, one eye keeping a watch on Ryouma and Ren. "I'm amazed at how much luck you two have. But because of you four, we were all saved."

"Kiriha..." Zenjirou breathed, in awe of the older child.

"I thank you, Ryouma, Ren, Akari, Gengorou." There was a cheeky twinkle in Kiriha's eye as he said the last name.

"It's Zenjirou!" The younger brunette yelled, lunging forward to stare daggers at Kiriha.

"I'm sorry..." Yuu gasped, bringing Zenjirou out of his temper. They all turned towards the young Amano and noticed he was trying to control his sobbing. "The world got into this mess because of me..."

"Yuu..." Nene whispered, feeling her brother's pain.

Akari glanced between them, before speaking up. "Yuu? You mean, Nene's little brother?"

Nene nodded in answer, while Zenjirou let out a noise of excitement. "Nene-san's brother!"

Taiki decided it was time and walked forward, before kneeling in front of Yuu. "Yuu, it's not your fault. You were tricked by DarkKnightmon!"

"But..." Yuu made to protest.

"This isn't over yet. You've got us! And you've got your friends!" Taiki continued.

Yuu, however, threw his head from side to side, crying loudly: "I don't have any friends anymore! Damemon died because of me!"

Understanding the younger boy's pain, Taiki lowered his head slightly, but pressed on. "Yuu, I'm sure Damemon is waiting for you."

Letting out a shocked gasp, Yuu raised his head. "Damemon is waiting?"

Taiki nodded decisively. "Digimon don't die. Even if they've died once, they can be brought back to life as long as their data remains." Behind him, the Death Generals nodded sharply in agreement. They were living proof of that, after all. "If we can revive him with the Code Crown that Bagramon has, I'm sure he'll come back!"

Yuu's body shook with both grief and hope. "But the Code Crown's turned into the Dark Stone... Will it turn back?"

"Don't give up!" Taiki leaned forward. "You have to fight, Yuu! As long as there's a possibility! To take back what's important to us..." At this, Kiriha's eyes narrowed dangerously. He would never forgive the Bagra Empire for taking away Deckerdramon. "To protect those who are important to us..." Nene looked at Yuu lovingly. "That's why we've fought." Zenjirou gazed proudly at the gathering, while Akari, Ryouma and Ren gave their agreement.

"But I..." Yuu still hesitated.

"You can do it," Taiki encouraged. "No, you're the only one who can." He handed the Darkness Loader to Yuu, who reached out to it with much trepidation.

"Yuu," Kiriha felt the boy's fear and was determined to help him fight it off. "You aren't alone."

Yuu finally took the Darkness Loader in his hand. It shone white, the colour changing to yellow.

-You are all magnificent for bringing out that determination in him! Alright, we'll revive Omegamon!- Examon declared.


	7. Strike

**A/N**: The prompt I used for this chapter was number 10, 'connect'.

…

7. Strike

"O-Oi! Look at that!" Zenjirou exclaimed, pointing at something in the distance.

Hordes of Troopmon flanked giant Rhinomon. Minotarumon and Mammon lumbered and stomped their way forward, and Sealsdramon rolled in on treaded feet. DarknessBagramon's forces had arrived.

DarknessBagramon himself looked down upon the Generals and civilians, a gloating expression seen clearly on his face. "It's Kudou Taiki and his friends..." he rumbled, his eyes mocking them. "Such useless struggle."

ZeekGreymon took to the air, Kiriha crouched on his neck. "Alright!" He shouted down to the others. "Start the plan!"

"Yuu!" Nene called from JetMervamon's back. "You can do it!"

With a smile on his face and eyes brighter than ever before, Yuu answered confidently as he held up his Xros Loader. "Leave it to me!"

Taiki turned towards Akari, Zenjirou, Ryouma and Ren, speaking to the former two first. "Akari, Zenjirou! Give Yuu all the support he needs!"

Akari and Zenjirou nodded excitedly, as Zenjirou gave a thumbs up. "Okay!" They declared in unison.

"Ryouma, Ren! Be careful out there." The two cousins acknowledged his request. "Yuu, it's do or die!" Eager to get in on the battle himself, Taiki raised a fist.

Yuu nodded decisively, his reply truthful. "I know that, Taiki-san!" He held up his Loader again. "Reload!" All of the Digimon who had joined them materialized, even the ones Taiki had transferred to Yuu's Loader for safe-keeping. "Let's go, guys!" He cheered.

"Yeah~" They cried as well, preparing themselves for battle.

DarknessBagramon's army continued advancing on the Generals, the Mammon and Minotarumon bellowing angrily.

As ZeekGreymon soared overhead, Kiriha realized this was going to be a tough battle and that they could use every advantage they could get. "Zeek Flame!" He ordered his partner, who obeyed instantly, unleashing a massive stream of fire at the advancing opposition. Many Digimon were reduced to data under the scorching inferno.

A squadron of Pteramon appeared unexpectedly, firing their missiles at Kiriha and ZeekGreymon. Nene and JetMervamon ran interference. "Heartbreak Shot!" The beam of energy vaporized the missiles completely, but ZeekGreymon had to swerve to the right to avoid getting hit. The Pteramon squadron struck back with more missiles, but the explosive circular energy of Spicy Hard Love destroyed the flock altogether.

ZeekGreymon spewed out more intense flames and Kiriha decided to call upon Dracomon and Cyberdramon. "DigiXros!" Dracomon became taller with several metal plates from Cyberdramon fixed to his body. A Mammon looked on in confusion as the DigiXrossed Dracomon landed and released a blast of flame from his mouth in an instant. Pteramon fired at him, but he ignored it in favour of spewing more fire.

"Jijimon! Golemon! ChibiKamemon! DigiXros!" Yuu called out. "GolemJijiKamemon! Gaosmons! PawnChessmons! DigiXros! PawnGaosmons! Knightmon! Wisemon! DigiXros! Knightmon Wise Sword Mode!"

Knightmon jumped in front of the enemy and brought back his sword, before swinging it forward. "Wise Sword!" The sheer amount of power that came from the single swing decimated dozens of foes, but those of a higher level resisted deletion.

The rest of the opposition were being laid into by the other allied Digimon and slowly, the tide of battle began to turn in favour of the good guys.

Dorulumon had been DigiXrossed into a catapult and Taiki was waiting in the slingshot made by the Starmon and Pickmons. The DigiMemories circled Taiki, with Omegamon in front of the teenager. Taiki was ready to be launched. Akari, Ryouma and Cutemon glanced at each other as the countdown began and Akari called Taiki's name as the trio ran towards him.

Akari and Ryouma latched onto the older boy, making Taiki wonder what was going on. As they were launched, Taiki looked at Akari. "Why?" he asked, shocked.

Akari answered for the pair of them. "Ryouma and I couldn't turn our backs on you knowing you'd be going alone."

"I couldn't leave you, kyu!" Cutemon added.

Recovering from his surprise, Taiki smiled. "Okay, hang on tight!"

-Let's go!- Examon raised his voice and the DigiMemories formed a protective sphere around the group.

Shooting over the heads of the Mammon, the defensive barrier arced straight for DarknessBagramon's chest, entering through the Dark Stone. It pulsed as they went in.


	8. Reversible

**A/N**: The prompt I used for this chapter was number 16, 'changeable'.

…

8. Reversible

Bagramon's malice-filled laugh was suddenly heard, as his soul appeared in front of Taiki, causing the gogglehead to jerk in shock before backflipping to a different thorn-like ledge.

Akari, Cutemon and Ryouma joined him on the same ledge. "Bagramon!" Taiki shouted.

"To think you would come up with a suicide mission like this," the evil Digimon gloated. "You truly are an amazing General, Kudou Taiki. But you have lost! Be a man and admit your defeat."

Taiki stared back unflinchingly, with a grimace on his face and eyes shimmering. "No!" he refused.

Bagramon humphed in disapproval. "How unsightly. If you won't admit it, I will make you. Look upon your friends' end!" A screen appeared above Bagramon's head, showing the battle that was still being waged outside.

Despite the Xros Heart Digimon and Generals still fighting, chaos soon began spreading when DarknessBagramon himself took to the battlefield and his minions took advantage of the confusion. From the armoured mouth on DarknessBagramon's chest, a dark purple ball of light started forming and then fired, creating a massive path of destruction, deleting many of his own forces.

Kiriha and ZeekGreymon were left wondering what exactly was going on. The beam fired again, but the eyes glowed at the same time, turning the light a bluish colour. The "fire that erases data", as they would later find out, tore through another quarter of DarknessBagramon's soldiers and very nearly got ZeekGreymon, who had had to protect Nene and JetMervamon at the last second from a Tankdramon.

Inside, DarknessBagramon held a squirming Taiki fast in his grip. "You, the human world and the Digital World will all disappear and a perfect new world will be born."

Struggling for his life, with Bagramon's grip becoming even tighter, Taiki still defied. "I won't let that happen!"

"Why do you adhere so much to an imperfect world?" Bagramon inquired. "You get to be a far better life form in the far better world that I recreate."

"No!" Taiki yelled, still squirming and trying to get out of Bagramon's grip. "Humans and Digimon are both living creatures with free souls! It's not just humans!" Bagramon wondered what the boy was talking about, knowing he was beginning to pry his way out of his hand, but not caring. "The flowers, the birds, the fish, the insects... All life forms have the right to live freely! Just letting you make them the way you want can't be right!"

There was silence as Bagramon crushed Taiki's strength and left him panting raggedly. He stared at him, bringing him up to eye level. "I see the question itself was pointless. Die as the last hope of wretched fools." He threw Taiki into the air.

Akari and Ryouma couldn't help themselves, crying out his name in fear. Thinking he was going to die, Taiki's eyes began shimmering again and he breathed one word. "Shoutmon..."

A Melody played and Shoutmon spoke. "Right here!" Taiki's eyes immediately widened in realization and Bagramon dodged to one side as a large fireball headed directly at him. Shoutmon appeared, complete with microphone, on their ledge.

"Shoutmon!" Taiki cried, a tear of happiness running down his face. It was then he realized he was falling, but was suddenly grabbed by an arm. He looked and his smile got even wider. "Beelzebumon!"

The Ultimate level Digimon grunted a reply as he flew, nodding with a grin of his own.

"Taiki!"

"Kyu~"

Beelzebumon landed and Akari, Cutemon and Ryouma hugged the gogglehead, ecstatic that he was unharmed.

"Too bad for you, Bagramon!" Shoutmon boasted, crouching down. "I won't let you gain world domination that easily!"

"You were reborn?" Bagramon queried, doubt in his eyes. "How?!"

Shoutmon made a noise of derision. "You can't hear the voices of the Code Crowns, can you?" He half turned and pointed in the direction of the purified Code Crown.

"What in the-?" Bagramon was caught off guard by this revelation.

"You wanna know? Then I'll tell you!" Shoutmon insisted. "The Code Crown chose Taiki! Not you! In other words, the Digital World has acknowledged Taiki."

Taiki's eyes widened in hope. "Then-!"

…

A split opened in the real world's sky and all of the Digimon they had befriended but lost were now returning as allies. Sensing that the final fight was approaching, the Death Generals glanced at each other, giving their own acknowledgement to Whispered who had fallen to the data erasing fire. Then they prepared themselves. For the final fight and for the future, however undetermined it was.


	9. Death

**A/N**: The prompt I used for this chapter was number 26, 'rob'. Flashback kind of chapter, focusing on Ryouma's thoughts as he watches Apollomon and Whispered fight DarknessBagramon.

…

9. Death

From inside Bagramon's soul, Ryouma felt helpless as he watched Xros Heart and the Death Generals fight DarknessBagramon's minions. He observed quietly as the fight seemed to swing in the challengers' favour, but then the data-erasing fire made its appearance. Ryouma's green eyes shifted towards a part of the battlefield that wasn't being shown as much as the other sections.

The tall, red lion-like Digimon, who Taiki had called Apollomon, and his dark blue counterpart, Whispered, were fighting DarknessBagramon. The other Death Generals were busy elsewhere, fighting off other evil Digimon. Ryouma didn't know much about the Death Generals, but he could tell just by looking at Apollomon and Whispered that they had been through a lot to get to that section where they were fighting DarknessBagramon alone.

The pair launched their attacks simultaneously. "Phoebus Blow!"

"Arrow of Whispered!"

_What are they hoping to achieve?_ Ryouma wondered, when the moves did nothing but glance off of DarknessBagramon's armoured chest. _Are they... trying to buy time until Taiki returns to the battlefield?_ The thought struck him and he mulled over it, eventually deciding that that must be the case.

They struck again with their techniques, but still DarknessBagramon saw them as little more than pests that needed to be terminated. He said as such and Whispered stiffened in anger, but did not move when Apollomon placed a clawed hand on his shoulder. However, now that DarknessBagramon had seen that he struck a nerve of Whispered's, he continued putting him down.

...

Beside him, Apollomon mentally sighed at DarknessBagramon's tactics, realizing that if he didn't act soon, Whispered was likely to lash out in retaliation and possibly get himself killed.

"Phoebus Blow!" Apollomon tried a different strategy since Whispered was shaking with fury at the moment. _Whispered, get it together. If you don't come to your senses soon, we're both going to lose this fight_. His plan of attacking by himself was to try and draw attention away from Whispered, who was incapable of fighting with his anger clouding his judgement like this.

...

Ryouma could see this wasn't going to be easy for them but, all the same, he hoped at least one of them survived. But then it happened. Whispered had had enough and lost control of his emotions, running in recklessly, charging an Arrow of Whispered. Ryouma saw Apollomon shout for Whispered to come back, but the dark counterpart was too far gone.

DarknessBagramon smirked; this was what he had been waiting for. He drew one arm back and then pushed it forward, his fist meeting Whispered's muscular stomach. Whispered let out a strangled cry of agony, before his body began deleting itself.

Even from this distance and inside Bagramon's soul, Ryouma perked up as he heard a melody, before it faded.


End file.
